Drill Baby Drill

By Siggy Raible

Reading one of the lead stories in The New York Times on July 7, 2025, was distressing. Why, you may ask, should July 7 be any different from any other day’s distressing news? Well, because over the Fourth of July weekend at least 132 people perished in a deluge (four months of rainfall in four hours) that caused the Guadalupe River in central Texas to swell by an incredible 26 feet in just 45 minutes. Among the deceased were 28 youngsters and counselors who were attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp. In Kerr County, as of mid-July, 101 people were still unaccounted for and presumed dead. Our Texan neighbors, from young campers to older retirees, drowned in the early hours of July Fourth.

What is upsetting is the fact that so many Americans do not believe climate change is happening and contributing to the extreme weather we are presently witnessing. And worse, this administration, non-believers all, is doing nothing to combat it. The fact that so much rain fell in such a short time on July 3 should be a wake-up call to all those non-believers. As should the fires occurring in Los Angeles, Canada and in countries around the world like Greece and Turkey. And let’s not forget the Wizard-of-Oz-like tornadoes that are devastating the Midwest. The planet is warming and with the warming comes torrential downpours and flooding in areas like Kerrville, Texas. While in other areas conditions are so dry that uncontrolled wildfires occur frequently, as we witnessed in Lahaina, Hawaii in 2023 and Los Angeles, California last year. This year it is Turkey, Greece and France’s turn to burn.

Our president’s answer: deny climate change and cheer on the oil/gas/coal industries with the credo “drill baby drill.” Maybe the mantra should be “burn baby burn” or “drown baby drown.”

In a New York Times article on June 30, reporters David Belles, Somni Sengupta, Keith Bradsher and Brad Plumber wrote that the Trump administration “wants to keep the world hooked on fossil fuels like oil and gas … even as the dangers of global warming hang ominously over the planet.” The theory being that the U.S. produces plenty of oil and gas so why reinvent the wheel. The article continues to say that these policies will have “serious consequences for the health of the planet.” They state that China does not have easily accessible oil and gas so it “is banking on a [warming] world that runs on cheap electricity from sun and wind and that relies on China for affordable, high-tech solar panels and turbines.” (For an in-depth analysis see There’s a Race to Power the Future. China is Pulling Ahead, NYTimes, June 30, 2025.)

The Trump administration has abandoned President Biden’s clean new energy deal thereby ceding the new green market to China. What a loser! And sadly, to that end, we are all losers.

Where America was once the leader in alternative sources of energy. China has invested big time in batteries and systems that can recharge electric cars in just five minutes. It is the leading producer of solar panels and wind turbines. Most important is its dominance in producing rare-earth magnets. The U.S. does not have access to rare earth minerals. (In a deal with Ukraine, as repayment for U.S. supplied-war materiel, the U.S. will invest in their rare earth extracting businesses. Greenland also has an abundance of rare earth minerals. Could that be why the president wants to “purchase” Greenland?)

President Trump has also, through executive orders, denied funding to many of our university research facilities some of which are investigating and improving our understanding of climate change and its effect on our planet. And he has gleefully DOGE’d our federal governmental agencies to the extent that they will no longer be able to provide information needed to adequately prepare for climate change and its effect on local weather. One of those agencies, FEMA, was formed in 1979 to deal with the aftereffects of natural disasters. On January 20, 2025 Trump signed an order withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. In June 2025 the president stated that he wanted to eliminate FEMA after the 2025 hurricane season. How is this possible, you may ask. Well, because the Republican led congress has abrogated its legislative duties to check this president’s unbridled actions.

What we do know or should know is that “drill baby drill” will in some areas lead to “burn baby burn” and in others to “drown baby drown.” We live on an intricately interconnected planet; what we do or do not do has deadly consequences.